Federal ‘Junk Science' Rule Draws Fire
"Not quite two years ago, barely anybody took notice when a federal agency issued a benign-sounding rule requiring that any scientific data used to drive federal policy be useful, objective, and reproducible."

"‘Regulations were over-burdensome and caused too much paperwork,' said Jim Tozzi, a pro-business lobbyist who worked on the act. Historically, the Office of Management and Budget had reviewed regulations to ensure their impact on government and business was reasonable -- but during the Clinton administration, that review was stopped, Tozzi said. ‘We felt somebody had to regulate the regulators.'
Boston Globe, December 23, 2003

Nixon's "Nerd" Turns Regulations Watchdog
"For much of the history of the federal bureaucracy, most new regulations
were not subject to close and systematic review by an outside party.
And then came Jim Tozzi.

"Tozzi, now almost a legendary figure in the world of federal regulations,
worked for five consecutive administrations" from Lyndon Johnson's to
Ronald Reagan's "to get the Office of Management and Budget to review
the regulations agencies were busy churning."
The Federal Times,
November 8, 2002

One-Act Farce: Deregulation by Disputation
"Nominally, the [Data Quality] Act's sponsoring representative was Jo Ann Emerson, Republican of Missouri, a former lobbyist who gained her seat on 1996 after the death of her husband, eight-term congressman Bill Emerson, from lung cancer. But in reality, the act was written by Jim Tozzi….

"…Finally conservatives and corporate lobbyists have found a bureaucracy they like. With the law in effect, its author, Jim Tozzi, now can devote himself to filing complaints under it."Harper's Magazine, June 2003

Law Revises Standards
for Scientific Study (Data Quality Act)
"Some architects of the legislation say they expect it will help
them in the courtroom. Most notable is James J. Tozzi, the founder of
the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness.

With a government-set yardstick for quality, Mr. Tozzi said, critics of
regulations can now build more convincing cases showing that an agency
was arbitrary and capricious in its choice of data. Until now, such suits
have generally failed.

The most important aspect of the law, he said, is that it creates a consistent
system for uncovering errors early and encouraging agencies to be more
careful about how they use data.
'It's the information age,' Mr. Tozzi said. 'Now in the world's most powerful
government you're going to have to issue information that's accurate."The New York
Times, March 21, 2002

Lobbying the OMB: The Inside Game"…it's
safe to say he [Tozzi] is something of a godfather in the OMB lobbying
field."

"'If you haven't
really worked at OMB, you can't really make a dent in the place,' says
Jim Tozzi, a former OMB civil servant who was the first deputy chief of
the agency's politically sensitive Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs (OIRA), which provides cost-benefit analyses of agency regulations."
Influence Online, August 22, 2001

Message from the Chair, American Bar Association
Section on Administrative Law"The Fall Meeting dinner, which
has traditionally been held on Thursday evening (November 1 this year) and which has
honored those government officials with a special interest in issues affecting the
Section, will this year honor the current and former heads on OMB's Office of
Information and Regulatory affairs (OIRA). Given the recent Supreme Court rulings
noted above and the panels this weekend that will explore issues overseen by OIRA,
the dinner will be especially timely. Jim Tozzi, who served in a career capacity at
OIRA longer than any other senior career official, and who has therefore observed more
OIRA Administrators than most, has promised to put in a cameo appearance, perhaps
bringing along some Dixieland music entertainment, and to offer observations on the
conduct on the office over the years."
Administrative and Regulatory Law
News, Volume 27, Number 1, p. 2, Fall 2001

Industry Targets University Research Under Data Quality Act
"An industry group is warning EPA that is can no longer consider university and other third-party research that fails to meet data quality requirements, even if it is submitted as part of public comments on rulemakings."

"The group, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, has also begun filing the first-ever data quality challenge against EPA over third-party data submitted by a university and an environmental group that makes the case for stricter regulation."Inside EPA, April 25, 2003

NRDC Comments Threatened with Industry Data Quality Challenge
"The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) has submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that threaten to challenge the data quality of comments submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), should EPA use them."

"CRE claims that the NRDC comments contain substantial inaccuracies, omissions, and biases, and lack reproducibility. These comments are precedent-setting in two ways: it is the first effort to use the Data Quality Act to address third party submitted information; perhaps more troubling, this effort also challenges information before it is used or relied upon by the agency."OMB Watch, The Watcher, March 24, 2003

Jim Tozzi's Testimony on Capital Hill
"We could say there's a lot of problems with the concept of regulatory budget, but by and large, we still don't have a way, even if we look at individual regs, of looking at their total cost to society and they're - I would suggest Dr. Miller's and Dr. Hahn's and Dr. Graham's and any other doctors who testified, view on the fact that's the right way to go."Jim J. Tozzi, Statement before the Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs, March 11, 2003

Learning to Live with the Data Quality Act. Comments by Jim Tozzi
"But now I think we have to emphasize how we make the DQA [Data Quality Act] work, and how we make it work fairly and equitably. The best way to do this is to start addressing concerns forcibly. For example, a number of observers have said that while the goals of the Act are laudable, the 'devil is in the details.' It is the implementation phase that is critical to success of the legislation. And while up to now we could have put some details aside, now they have to be addressed on the front burner."Environmental Law Reporter, March 2003

Drive Underway to Enact Legislation on Data Quality, Access at State Level
"Motivated by enactment of the federal Data Quality Act, which allows individuals to file challenges to data used in making regulatory decisions, a drive is under way to get similar legislation enacted at the state level."

"Two model bills that would echo the federal Data Quality Act are being considered by the American Legislative Exchange Council, according to Jim Tozzi, an advisory board member for the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) and former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget's regulatory review office."

"Tozzi led the effort to enact the Data Quality Act, which was included in the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (P.L. 106-554)."Bureau of National Affairs, Daily Environment Report, February 12, 2003

How the Game is Played
"In 1970, the same year President Richard M. Nixon declared the environment a major issue and created the EPA, Lester Lave and Eugene Seskin, two innovative economists, arrayed data on air pollution and health to show that current patterns killed thousands and sickened millions every year. They spent several years fine tuning their analyses, but their work was largely ignored by public health specialists at the time. Arguing that the country was not ready for more detailed analyses in this arena, James Tozzi, a senior government official in charge of the EPA budget, effectively defunded work that would have clarified these questions."Chapter 4 of: What Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deceit, by Devra Lee Davis, Basic Books, November, 2002

New Guidelines Open U.S. Data To Challenge
The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, which characterizes itself
as a regulatory watchdog group that is supported by business and trade
associations, was the impetus behind the new law...

James J. Tozzi, the group's founder, was at OMB's office of regulatory
review from 1972 to 1983. He said the center probably will be among the
first to challenge a study the Environmental Protection Agency did as
part of a rulemaking.The Washington Post, October 1, 2002

The Tozzi Decision: Another Arrow in Manufacturers’ Quiver in Product Defense Wars"Tozzi [v. Department of Health and Human Services] is a positive development, and provides industry with reason to cheer."EPA Administrative Law Reporter, November 2001, Volume 18, Number 5

Industry-Funded Group Proposes Executive Order to Overhaul Regulatory Settlements"An industry-backed group has drafted an executive order that if adopted by the Bush Administration would overhaul the process for reviewing legal settlements to regulatory disputes. The draft order would dramatically expand the role of industry and the general public in reviewing consent decrees and settlements resolving lawsuits against EPA and other federal agencies, which can often involve revised regulatory policies."

"The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) sent the draft executive order, along with a letter, on Sept. 4 to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), arguing that settlements negotiated between government agencies and outside groups often affect the general public in ways that government agencies fail to take into account. ‘These judgments and agreements,’ the order says, ‘can result in regulatory action or inaction that substantially affects many people who are not parties in the litigation. Non-parties often have no opportunities to participate in or comment on the consent judgment or settlement agreement even though their rights and duties may be determined by the judgment or settlement.’"

Data Quality Politics"If you want a glimpse of the [data quality] guidelines’ future political use, check out the Web site of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (www.thecre.com). Already, the organization has filed notice of its intent to sue the Energy Department for not publishing data quality guidelines."Federal Computer Week, July 29, 2002

Garbage In, Regulation Out: When It Comes to Cooking Books, The Feds Are Gourmets"Interestingly, something like this might be in store for federal agencies as a result of a little-noticed law, the Federal Data Quality Act, signed by President Clinton on his way out the door. It was drafted by the pro-business Center for Regulatory Effectiveness in Washington, and inserted into the mammoth year-end appropriations bill in late 2000 by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R., Mo.). ‘The White House noticed it and asked some questions about it, but there was so much going on—Florida, the Clinton pardons and the need to get the appropriations done—that it couldn’t be stopped,’ says Jim Tozzi, co-founder of CRE and a long-time staffer at the Office of Management and Budget."

Regulatory Information Should be Subject to Correction Mechanism, Industry Tells EPA"William Kelly, of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, seconded the suggestion that EPA apply its own Lessons Learned document."

"Kelly disagreed with several comments EPA made in its draft proposal stating that the application of the guidelines is not mandatory. Kelly cited both the law that spurred OMB’s guidance and a second, related law and said, ‘the agency is required to comply with OMB’s guidelines. It is not discretionary. It’s required by law.’"Bureau of National Affairs, Daily Environment Report, June 16, 2002

Comment Salvos Exchanged in Data Quality War"Some of the most extensive sets of comments being submitted to various agencies are, not surprisingly, from the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness. The CRE submitted to all federal agencies a 26 page long set of generic comments covering 16 major points."

"The overarching effect of the CRE comments is clearly to make the data quality guidelines apply to as much as possible and to be as binding as possible. The CRE decried the exemptions of certain types of information and dissemination from the data quality guidelines comments."OMB Watch, The Watcher, June 10, 2002 Vol. 3 No. 12

Conservatives Seek Formal Withdrawal of EPA Study Citing Global Warming Impacts"During the waning days of the Clinton administration, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Reps. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) and Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI), along with CEI, filed a lawsuit against the assessment, alleging that the development of the report violated several laws, including the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, an anti-regulatory group, has also petitioned the White House to withdraw the assessment because the group charges it is biased on ‘inadequate and incomplete science.’"Inside EPA, June 5, 2002

Questions About Online Data"The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, a primary backer of the Data Quality Act, has already started requesting changes in government information that is published in print and online."

"This year, the center requested that the United States Global Change Research Program withdraw dissemination of the National Assessment on Climate Change on the basis of ‘numerous data quality and scientific flaws,’ according to the letter posted on the group’s Web site."

"The center also asked the Environmental Protection Agency to modify its
Web site on global warming to reflect the scientific uncertainties about global climate change."

"William Kelly, western representative for the center, said the poor quality of federal data created problems for everyone who sued it, from regulators to consumers."

"’With the blossoming of the Internet, it’s turned into a huge problem for industry,’ Mr. Kelly said. ‘Agencies were encouraged to post virtually everything on the Internet. It wasn’t such a problem when people had to go through a Freedom of Information Act request.’"New York Times, June 3, 2002

Excerpt from Interview with Data Quality Act Critic Alan Morrison, Founder of the Public Citizen Litigation Group"My understanding is that Jim Tozzi who is a highly regarded lobbyist for interests that are principally concerned about what’s going on at EPA is at least one of the drafters of this legislation [Data Quality Act]. I think the parentage, assuming that it is Jim Tozzi and his colleagues, gives you a good idea of what the purpose of this law was supposed to be."National Public Radio, "On the Media", April 20, 2002

Tussle Over New Rules on Federal Data"The [Data Quality] act was first proposed by a group called the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, which acknowledges criticism that the law will delay some important rules."

"’Some of those criticisms are fair,’ said director Jim Tozzi, ‘it is going to have some immediate slow-down effect.’ But long term, he said, the law will benefit everyone by improving the rules we live by."

"Not only will government have to live by the law, he said, but so too will businesses and activists since they’ll have to make sure their data is solid when trying to influence policymaking."MSNBC, March 21, 2002

Biting the Data Quality Bullet: Burdens on Federal Data Managers Under New Section 515
"At the Section’s Spring Meeting in Richmond on April 19, a panel of experts hosted by the Government Information & Privacy Committee explored the alternative prospects for ‘data quality’ challenges. Dr. Jim Tozzi, former Deputy Administrator of OMB’s Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and now a Washington consultant, authored the original drafts in 1999, and in 2000 found a welcoming sponsor in House Appropriations member Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. Though critics like OMB Watch offered their alternative terms, the Tozzi proposal was adopted as Section 515 of Public Law 106-554 and the ‘data quality’ process becomes mandatory for all agencies on Oct. 1, 2002."Administrative and Regulatory Law News, Volume 27, Number 4

Raids on Regulations Expected (Data Quality Act)"Jim Tozzi, co-founder
of the pro-business Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, and a proponent
of the Act, says the ramifications are broader than he imagined. 'It's
turning out to be a lot more significant than we thought it would be,'
he said. 'It sets standards for which you can now judge whatever the government
issues."
The Wall Street
Journal, July 5, 2002

Web Sites Track Regulatory Changes"The conservative, business
oriented Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, and its site (thecre.com) analyzes
rules and the process of regulation. It's run by Jim Tozzi, who was a deputy
administrator at the Office of Management and Budget from 1972 to 1983. He's
now a consultant to business on regulatory issues.

"Tozzi said his readers
are executives of Fortune 500 companies and government staffers: 'We want them
to look at our positions to influence what they are working on.'

"During the recent debate over
the ergonomics rule intended to prevent repetitive-stress injuries, Tozzi said,
'people were e-mailing us with questions from the Hill during the vote. We had a
direct impact into the legislative process.'"
The Washington Post, April 24, 2001

Saccharin Is Removed by Government from List
of Known Human Carcinogens"In response to the nomination,
regulatory consultant Jim Tozzi and a group of New York restaurant owners filed suit
last year naming the government officials responsible for the report. The plaintiffs
claim the government isn't following its own rules, because the upgrade of dioxin was
based on animal studies, when human data are needed."
The Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2000

Little-Noticed Law Raises Standard for Federal
Rules"More and more, federal agencies are
setting policy without actually regulating by distributing information via the Internet
that carries the effect of regulation, said Jim Tozzi of the Center for Regulatory
Effectiveness, a watchdog group that lobbied hard for the new law.